Liberia’s historic center, architectural and urban diagnosis

Abstract

The historic center of Liberia is a community-based project, strongly promoted by the Association for Culture and made official through municipal agreement 22-2007. As part of the results of the extension project “Baseline for the sustainable management of the historic center of the city of Liberia” a diagnosis of the urban heritage situation was obtained, which is directly influenced by the colonial architecture of Rivas de Nicaragua. A mixed approach (qualitative and quantitative) as a methodological framework is organized in four stages, using techniques such as bibliographic review; mapping; non-participant observation; interviews with stakeholders; Liberian architecture characteristics systematic recording, among others. It was possible to identify those buildings that present the most relevant characteristics of Liberian architecture, as earthen walls, either adobe or bahareque, tile roofs, and sun doors. These results are associated with the cadastral information all geo-referenced, which facilitates their validation by stakeholders. As a registry updated to 2021, it constitutes the first tool for the management of the material heritage of the historic center.